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M. NourbeSe Philip
Marlene Nourbese Philip (born February 3, 1947), usually credited as M. NourbeSe Philip, is a Canadian poet, novelist, playwright, essayist and short story writer. Life Philip was born in the Caribbean, at Woodlands, Moriah, Trinidad and Tobago. She was educated at the University of the West Indies. She subsequently pursued graduate degrees in political science and law at the University of Western Ontario. She practised law in Toronto, Ontario, for 7 years. She left her law practise in 1983 to devote time to her writing. Philip has also taught at the University of Toronto, taught creative fiction at the 3rd year level at York University and has been writer in residence at McMaster University and University of Windsor. Philip has published 3 books of poetry, 2 novels, 3 books of collected essays, and 2 plays. Her short stories, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in magazines and journals in North America and England, and her poetry has been extensively anthologized. Her work - poetry, fiction and non-fiction is taught widely at the university level and is the subject of much academic writing and critique. Writing Philip is known for experimentation with literary form and for her commitment to social justice…. Though her writing suggests an in-depth understanding of the canon, Philip's career undoubtedly helped to free her from the constraints of tradition and to nurture her social analysis and criticism.Peter Hudson, Microsoft Encarta Africana Novels Her debut novel, Harriet's Daughter (1988), is widely used in high school curricula in Ontario,Selected Resource at Intermediate level by The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, The Toronto District School Board Equity Department, Hamilton-Wentworth Elementary Teachers’ Local, Peel District School Board, Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, York Catholic District School Board; Celebrating African Heritage, Black History Month, February 2004 as well as Great Britain, and was, for a decade, studied by all children in the Caribbean receiving a high school CXC diploma. It has also been published as an audio cassette, a script for stage and a German language edition. Although categorized as young adult literature, Harriet’s Daughter is a book that can appeal to older children and adults of all ages. Set in Toronto, this novel explores the themes of friendship, self-image, ethics and migration while telling a story that is riveting, funny and technically accomplished. It makes the fact of being Black a very positive and enhancing experience. Poetry In her poetry, as she explores themes of race, place, gender, colonialism and, always, language, Philip plays with words, bending and restating them in a way that is reminiscent of jazz. The tension between father tongue (the white Euro-Christian male canon), and mother tongue (Black African female) is always present. Most quoted is the chant-like refrain at the core of Discourse on the Logic of Language: ... and English is my mother tongue is my father tongue is a foreign lan lan lang language l/anguish anguish... Her 2008 poem cycle, Zong!, is based on a legal decision at the end of the 18th century, related to the murder of Africans on board a slave ship. A dramatized reading of this new poem cycle, was workshopped and presented at Harbourfront in Toronto as part of rock.paper.sistahz in 2006. Poems from this collection have been published in Facture, boundary 2 and Fascicle; the latter includes 4 poems, along with an extensive introduction. On April 16, 2012 at b current studio space in Toronto, Philip held her first authorial full-length reading of Zong! -- an innovative interaction-piece lasting 7 hours, in which both author and audience performed a cacophonous collective reading of the work from beginning to end. In solidarity with this collective reading, another audience-performance was held in Blomfontaine, South Africa. Essays Philip is a prolific essayist. Her articles and essays … demonstrate a persistent critique and an impassioned concern for issues of social justice and equity in the arts, prompting Selwyn R. Cudjoe's assertion that Philip "serves as a lightning rod of black cultural defiance of the Canadian mainstream." More to the point is the epigram in Frontiers where Philip dedicates the book to Canada, 'in the effort of becoming a space of true belonging'.Peter Hudson, Microsoft Encarta Africana. It is as an essayist that M. NourbeSe Philip’s role as anti-racist activist is most evident. She was one of the first to make culture her primary focus as she argued passionately and articulately for social justice and equity. Specific controversial events that have been the focus of her essays include the Into the Heart of Africa exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum, the Toronto production of Show Boat, and Caribana. Her essays also put the spotlight on racial representation on arts councils and committees in Canada and there have been definite advances in this area subsequently. It was at a small demonstration concerning the lack of Canadian writers of colour outside of the 1989 PEN Canada gala, that she was confronted by June Callwood. In talking about her own work Philip has said, "fiction is about telling lies, but you must be scathingly honest in telling those lies. Poetry is about truth telling, but you need the lie - the artifice of the form to tell those truths." M. NourbeSe Philip, The Absence of Writing or How I Almost Became a A Spy, She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks & Genealogy of Resistance and Other Essays Scholar Rinaldo Walcott has engaged critically with the work of M. NourbeSe Philip Walcott, Rinaldo. Black Like Who? Toronto: Insomniac Press, 1997 His essay "No Language is Neutral": The Politics of Performativity in M. Nourbese Philip's and Dionne Brand's Poetry published in the book Black Like Who? is a strong example of this scholarly engagement.Walcott, Rinaldo. Black Like Who? Toronto: Insomniac Press, 1997 Recognition Philip’s most renowned poetry book, She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks, was awarded the Casa de las Américas Prize for Literature while still in manuscript form. Awards *Casa de las Americas prize for the manuscript version of the poetry book, She Tries Her Tongue... 1998 *Tradewinds Collective (Trinidad & Tobago) Poetry –1st prize, 1988 & Short Story –1st prize, 1988 *Canadian Library Association prize for children's literature, runner up, for Harriet's Daughter - 1989 *Max and Greta Abel Award for Multicultural Literature, first runner up for Harriet's Daughter - 1989 *Guggenheim Fellow, in poetry – 1990 *McDowell Fellow – 1991 *Lawrence Foundation Award for the short story Stop Frame published in the journal Prairie Schooner - 1995 *Toronto Arts Award in writing and publishing, finalist–1995 *Rebels for a Cause award, the Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto –2001 *Woman of Distinction award in the Arts, YWCA - 2001 *Chalmers Fellowship in Poetry – 2002 *Rockefeller Foundation residency in Bellagio, Italy - 2005. Publications Poetry *''Thorns''. Stratford, ON: Williams Wallace Inc., 1980. *''Salmon Courage''. Stratford, ON: Williams Wallace Inc., 1983. *''She Tries Her Tongue, Her Silence Softly Breaks''. Charlottetown, PEI: Ragweed Press, 1988. *''Discourse on the Logic of Language (1989)'' *''Zong!'' Toronto: Mercury Press, 2008; Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2008.Zong!, M. NourbeSe Philip, Web, July 3, 2012. Plays *''The Redemption of Al Bumen (A Morality Play)'' (1993). *''Harriet's Daughter'' (2000).Plays, M. NourbeSe Philip, Web, July 3, 2012. *''Coups and Calypsos: A play'' (1996). Toronto: Mercury Press, 2001. Novels *''Harriet's Daughter''. Toronto: Women’s Press, 1988. *''Looking for Livingstone: An odyssey of silence''. Stratford, ON: Mercury Press, 1991. Essays *''Frontiers: Essays and writings on racism and culture, 1984-1992''. Stratford, ON: Mercury Press, 1992. *''Showing Grit: Showboating north of the 44th parallel''. Toronto: Poui Publications, 1993. *''Urban Confections: Race, crimes and immigration''. Toronto: Poui Publications, 1994. *''Caribana: African Roots and Continuities: Race, space and the poetics of moving''. Toronto: Poui Publications, 1996. *''Genealogy of Resistance, and other rssays''. Toronto: Mercury Press, 1997. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy Brock University.M. Nourbese Philip 1947- , Canadian Women Poets, Brock University, BrockU.ca, Web, July 3, 2012. See also *Category:Black Canadian poets *List of Canadian poets References *''Who’s Who in Canadian Literature''. Toronto: Reference Press, 1997-1998. *''Microsoft Encarta Africana'', 2001. *Black Heritage Month, poster, 2002. *Dawn P. Williams, Who’s Who in Black Canada, Toronto: D.P. Williams, 2003. Notes External links ;Poems *"Ferrum" (excerpt) at the Academy of American Poets ;Audio / video *M. NourbeSe Philip at PennSound *M. Nourbese Philip at YouTube ;Books *Marilyn Nourbese Philip at Amazon.com ;About *M. Nourbese Philip 1947- at Canadian Women Poets *M. NourbeSe Philip Official website. *"We Can Never Tell the Entire Story of Slavery: In conversation with M. NourbeSe Philip, Toronto Review of Books, 2014 *"Poetry and Law: M. NourbeSe Philip's Zong!" Category:Canadian poets Category:Canadian novelists Category:Canadian short story writers Category:Canadian dramatists and playwrights Category:Trinidad and Tobago poets Category:Black Canadian writers Category:Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to Canada Category:Living people Category:Writers from Toronto Category:1947 births Category:University of the West Indies alumni Category:Canadian women writers Category:Guggenheim Fellows Category:University of Western Ontario alumni Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:Canadian academics Category:Black Canadian poets